Mark Pugh is an Award-winning Wedding Photographer and Cinematographer based in Nottinghamshire.

Mark says of the couple and their day…

“On the day of their wedding, I caught up with groom Neil and his Groomsmen at a nearby hotel in Leek, where they were enjoying a small beer to settle Neil’s nerves.”

“After a brief photo-session next to the clock-tower in the town centre, we headed over to The Ashes Exclusive Country House Barn Wedding Venue.”

“The Ashes Exclusive Country House Barn Wedding Venue is available only on an ‘exclusive use’ basis, and boasts a cottage for use by the bride and her party from 10:00am on the day of the wedding.”

“I joined Vicky and her ladies as they were putting the finishing touches to their hair and make-up.

“Vicky was then ready to put on her beautiful Justin Alexander gown, which was stunning!”

“With only a few minutes remaining until their ceremony, a piper stood in the courtyard to pipe Vicky, her mother, bridesmaids, and flower girls into The Ashes ceremony barn.”

“Flanked by candles and their friends and family, Vicky took the long walk down the aisle with her mother to meet a tearful Neil.”

“Their friends and family looked-on from both the ground floor and one of two large balconies.”

“After the ceremony was over, I photographed all of the guests before taking the wedding party into the formal gardens for portraits, utilising the main house, and the stunning, uninterrupted view of the Staffordshire countryside as backdrops.”

“Vicky and Neil are both deeply interested in design, and this was reflected in their unique wedding theme.”

“They had burned the midnight oil to create a series of original pieces of artwork which adorned each window frame.”

“On each table, there was a geometric shape made by the couple, and a booklet explaining the history of their favourite designers.”

“But there were more surprises in store. Each table was bought out a side of lamb and was asked to designate a ‘carver’ who was given an apron and chef’s hat. It was a nice touch, and brought a lot of laughter to the proceedings.”

I now hand over to Vicki to share the couples story…

Tell us about the Proposal…

“Neil was brave; he proposed in front of all my closest friends on my 27th birthday.”

“We had gone back to my home town of Liverpool for a birthday meal and drinks with my best friends.”

” I thought Neil was quiet all the way through the meal but he kept insisting he was just hungry, little did I know what panic he was going through!”

“After the meal when we were just about to leave, he got the attention of all my friends and said “I’ve got one final present for Vicky” to which he then pulled out the ring and proposed in front of everyone.”

“I was in complete shock and all my friends were balling their eyes out.”

“It meant so much to me that such a special event in our lives was shared by my best friends; Neil knows how much they all mean to me, particularly as we live 100 miles away from them all.”

What was your Wedding Budget?…

“Our budget was around £15,000 (minus the honeymoon); we didn’t want the budget to be too formal or concrete as we wanted the flexibility to choose certain things we really wanted, but to compromise on other things.”

“I think we spent around £16,000 in total so we weren’t far off the original plan.”

“It was the second dress I tried on and I just knew it was the one; it had everything I wanted. I bought the dress from The Bridal Path, Childwall, Liverpool.”

“The accessories I wore were kept simple as the dress had so much detail on, I didn’t want anything to detract from it.”

“I wore diamond earrings that Neil bought for my birthday on the day he proposed, a simple tennis bracelet from Beaverbrooks and a Matthew Williamson crystal and pearl hair comb (from Debenhams).”

Groomswear…

“Neil wore something very special to him; his family tartan.”

“We had a bespoke kilt made with his tartan (Johnstone) paired with a grey tweed waistcoat and tweed jacket.”

“His tie was also made from his family tartan, with the outfit rounded off with a hand-made pair of tan leather brogues from Loake.”

The Bridesmaids…

“I had four bridesmaids in total; my maid of honour was my best friend Becca and my other adult bridesmaid was my other close friend Liz; we all met when we were 11 years old and have grown up together.”

“To have them by my side meant everything to me.”

“We also had Neil’s two cousins, Carla and Elena, as flower-girls, who looked so beautiful.”

“We sort of had two themes for our wedding; one was based around our families and the other was about us as people.”

“Our families are massively important to us both and we wanted to have a nod to them throughout the wedding.”

“With Neil wearing his family tartan, we wanted to extend this through the grooms-men too.”

“Each of the best men, our fathers and brothers wore tartan ties that had a family connection.”

“My brother wore my family tartan (Arbuthnot) and was in honour of my dad too, who sadly passed away when I was 15.”

“We wanted my dad to be part of our day in any way we could, so this was the first step. ”

“Neil’s dad wore his tartan (Lamont) and Neil’s brother wore his Grandad’s (Hamilton), my step-dad wore my Grandad’s (Espley) as did the best men who wore different colour variations of these tartans.”

“It was great to have something so personal to all the men in our family, as well as it providing great snaps of colour.”

“The men’s suits were also lined with a peacock feather print, which is my (Arbuthnot) family crest.”

“Our main theme was something that was really personal to us.”

“Being an Interior Design lecturer and Neil being a lighting designer, design was always going to play a major role in our wedding and not just from the point of view of the wedding stationery and overall aesthetic.”

“We based our theme around Mid-Century modern design, particularly prolific furniture designers and architects of the time.”

“Each of the tables in the reception were named after a famous Mid-Century designer, such as Charles & Ray Eames, Eero Saarinen, Hans Wegner, for example.”

“Each designer was then showcased by an illustration drawn by Neil, of one of their most iconic furniture designs to note the table name, and on the table, I had created a small booklet detailing up who the designer was, their design history, what they designed, including images of their work etc.”

“The table plan was designed as a technical drawing, showing all the chairs, which were associated with where our guests where sitting.”

“Pattern also played a major role throughout the wedding, from the geometric patterns I designed for each tier of the wedding cake, to the geometric tea-towel wedding favours and himmeli wreaths made for the table centres. ”

“It really was a labour of love and a theme which was incredibly personal to us.”

What was the highlight of your Wedding Day?…

“The moment I saw Neil at the bottom of the aisle was one of just sheer joy; I’ll never forget the moment I saw his face as he turned round and saw me for the first time, he was a picture over emotion; happiness, excitement, nervousness, pride all rolled in to one.”

“I then couldn’t wait to be by his side, we shed a little tear each as we stood side by side.”

“Aside from getting married to one another, my highlight of the day was my mum giving me away and the speech she gave at the wedding breakfast.”

“Losing my dad at such an early age gave me time to prepare for the day, knowing that he wasn’t going to be there to do all the “father-of-the-bride” things.”

“When I asked my mum to give me away, she was initially reticent as it’s not the “traditional” thing to do, but I was insistent and when she agreed, I couldn’t have been happier.”

“Tradition” didn’t play a major role in our wedding, as we wanted to do what was special to us, not what tradition dictates.”

“Having my mum by my side as we walked down the aisle was an honour and something so special; she has been both my mum and dad, as well as my best friend, so I couldn’t think of anyone more suited.”

“Her speech was something which she was incredibly nervous about but once she got under way (as well as having some “Dutch courage”!) she did brilliantly and the nerves didn’t show at all.”

“Lots of our guests commented on what a brilliant job she did and I couldn’t have been more proud as her daughter.”

What was your best buy?

“Our best buy was the Lomo Instant camera bought for guests to take pictures with and to sign the guest book.”

“It may not have been the cheapest thing, but we got some cracking pictures and memories stored in our guest book.”

“I suppose you can’t put a price on something that gives you so many laughs and great memories!”

What are your best Money Saving tips for other couples?…

“There are a few saving tips which we found invaluable; firstly, plan what is most important to you on the day.”

“Ours was the venue and the photographer, so once we had found those and including them within the budget,”

“it was then easy to breakdown how the remainder of the budget could be spent.”

“Next, I would say go to as many wedding fairs and shows as possible; we didn’t buy anything from these but what it gave us was an idea of what we did want, want we definitely didn’t, as well as a much clearer idea of the things we could do ourselves.”

“By seeing what was out there, as well as gaining ideas, we again could plan our budget effectively.”

“Planning and preparation is key; if you do the research and the leg-work, you can have the day you want quite easily without having to compromise on too many things.”

Thank you so much to Mark for sharing this exquisite Geometric theme wedding.

The styling is incredible, what a momentous effort to express their personalities on their special day.

Hi, I'm Alison and welcome to my Wedding Blog. I am crazy about love & crazy about Weddings and feed my zany marriage addiction by sharing your love stories.
I have been married to my wonderful IT Geek husband Neill for 12 years, and we have two amazing kids who inspire me to succeed, and to grow as a person, and as a Businesswoman.
I have a huge heart and am fiercely loyal and expect the same from others. I have lots of patience and have been called a good listener and I do have the knack of being a wee bit of a chatterbox.
I love chocolate and jelly babies ( perhaps a little too much), I love walks in the countryside and feeling at one with nature and I love travel and exploring and wish I could do a little bit more.
I am a wee bit obsessed with property websites and if I came into money would own a string of wedding venues so I could share the love even more....